Emanuel no cinch to succeed Daley

Judging by the attention he gets inside the Washington Beltway every time he talks about it, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel must be the odds-on favorite to replace Mayor Richard Daley.

But back in Chicago, where Emanuel made his political bones, the former congressman and political insider's sharp elbows and national cache aren't much of a guarantee that he will replace the man who remains firmly in control of Chicago.

Just ask the Daleys.

"Absolutely not, and I don't think anyone would say that," said Cook County Commissioner John Daley when asked Tuesday if Emanuel would be the front-runner in a mayor's race that didn't involve his brother. "And I don't think (Emanuel) would say that, knowing the electorate of Chicago."

Questions abound about his quick stockpiling of wealth on Wall Street, help from a Daley patronage army to win a seat in Congress and chats with disgraced ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich about filling a vacant U.S. Senate seat.

Not that the top job at City Hall is even open. Indeed, longtime Daley loyalists and advisers said privately they would be shocked if the mayor didn't run again next February. Friends of both men also said that Emanuel's desire to someday run for mayor in a clear field is nothing new to Daley.

Given that, Emanuel's decision to pipe up about his interest in Daley's chair on the Charlie Rose show -- "one day I would like to run for mayor of the city of Chicago" -- could partly be a way to spread his elbows and stake out a spot in a post-Daley pecking order.

Just as Emanuel hasn't talked in depth about some of his political past, he did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday. And as the Washington press corps awaits a major departure from Obama's inner circle, the White House on Tuesday ratcheted back speculation that the chief of staff was on the verge of departing for a 2011 mayoral campaign.

"(Emanuel) was talking about a scenario where if Mayor Daley doesn't run for re-election," deputy White House press secretary Bill Burton told reporters aboard Air Force One, "But we all know that Mayor Daley is running for re-election. It's something that many kids in Chicago dream of growing up to be a mayor, so it's one of the great jobs in American politics."